Difference Engine Games Now Available

The games made during the second incubator of the Difference Engine Initiative are here, along with screenshots and descriptions. Play a raging cyclist, an immoral prisoner, a space explorer, a Newfie adventurer, a memetic cat and a doughnut slaying questor.

The games of the DEI were showcased at the TIFF Bell Lightbox last month as a part of the Women in Film, Games and New Media Conference. If you missed it, you can watch the keynote and other videos here.

JAMuary is coming!

You’ll have to wait til the new year for the release roundup of the second Difference Engine Initiative incubator games, but in the meanwhile you can check out some game clips and interviews with the creators in this video.

Inspired? Check out this game jam being run by Dames Making Games:

JAMuary will aim to get first-time female game-makers to make their own first games during the month of January. We’ll be providing them with weekly group work sessions and peer mentoring at Site3, an online support and resource package, and an opportunity to present their games in public at a reception held on January 31st.

The deadline to apply is in 5 days, so check it out soon!

If making a game in a month seems impossible, check out the 29 games people made in a week for Game Prototype Challenge v10.

Difference Engine Round 2 Game Presentation

Wednesday November 23rd (doors at 7pm, start-time 7:30)
CSI Annex (720 Bathurst St., south of Bloor)
Free

The second round of the Difference Engine Initiative, a six week gamemaking incubator for women, is nearly over and we will be presenting the games that they made at the Centre for Social Innovation. The gamemakers will be presenting lightning talks about their games and their experiences making them. Una Lee, who co-facilitated the incubator with Sagan Yee, will be introducing them.

Check out some photos to see what the first round game presentation was like, and the first round games themselves here. It’ll be a great way to gear up for Gamercamp on the weekend!

The first and second rounds of the Difference Engine Initiative are part of the OMDC-funded TIFF Nexus.

Torontron Twinstick Release at Animation Bash

The Toronto Animation Arts Festival International (TAAFI) is hosting an animation industry night this Thursday in support of the launch of their fest next summer. Tickets and more info available here.

Our newest indie arcade cabinet, the Torontron Twinstick, will be released at the event. Curated by Jim McGinley, this cab features dual joystick games made in our fair city: that’s twice the stick of the original Torontron, folks. Warning: early field tests at the Toronto Underground Cinema and Mississauga’s Celebration Square indicate that exposure to the Twinstick can cause intense excitement and spontaneous geekgasms. Luckily, usage will be monitored by cross-media HES member Matt Hammill.

The TAAFI folks have told us that their fest is about the animation arts, not just the linear cartoon form, and that they want to showcase videogame work as well. It’s happening June 22-23 2012 at the TIFF Bell Lighbox and they’re starting to take submissions in January. More details here.

Play a Different Role Today

This being the day of dressing up, why not change up your usual videgame role and assume the identity of a Victorian eloper, a white girl rapper, a Yeti, a noir girl geek, an anatomy skeleton, a salsa gardener, an Icarus with dad issues, and a unicorn pooping colour trails?

The videogames for the first round of our Difference Engine Initiative, a six week gamemaking incubator for women, are all out! Play these free, cross-platform games in your browser right now.